easy peel sealant

Nov 01, 2006 4 Replies

Anyone also subscribed to the uk.comp.os.linux group will see I missposted this a bit earlier, the two groups are adjacent in my subscribed list ;-).



Is there an easy to peel off silicone sealant, a sort of blu tack variety? I'm still experimenting with some multiwall polycarbonate panels for interior use and want to be able to dismantle and modify them.



AJH


You can slice silicone off quite effectively with a long sharp knife held at a very low angle, ie. one of the snap-off blade knives with a new blade right out. It will bend a bit, and works very well. Also, some of the acrylic sealants stay kind of stringy and will peel off. Simon.

Silicones come in two classes. The stuff in tubes which cures on its own with an ammonia smell sticks to almost everything. The two-pack silicones (Google for Silastic) will peel off anything, although they can hold pretty well until they are peeled. They are excellent for replicating very fine surface features, or for making moulds for casting. They might work for your application, but not in a blu-tack way of permitting relocation, you would need to apply fresh material.

Not quite. The 'ammonia' smell isn't an ammonia smell at all, it's an acetic acid smell. In addition to acetic-acid cure silicone, you also get (quite readily available) neutral cure silicone, which liberates ethanol as it cures, and smells a little minty.

I've never thought of it as minty but then I used to think Sambuca tasted of coffee, presumably an association with the old coffee bean tradition, now replaced by the shot glass & glug tradition.

I'd didn't know about the ethanol liberation in neutral cure, thanks.

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